High-Mobility Scout Ground Vehicle

Develop a hydraulically driven wheel attached to an active road arm suspension for use on a high performance, high-mobility vehicle. A major problem in developing a high performance hydraulic drive is the efficiency losses inherent with the conventional hydraulic pump and hydraulic motor configuration. The efficiency losses are primarily from flow resistance and heat generation. These two factors become critical problems in a high performance design that requires high fluid pressures at high flow rates. Much research has been done on hydraulic drives. Most of the work has been toward the fine tuning of a conventional system to minimize the efficiency reducing factors. The proposed program is directed toward demonstrating the feasibility of using a novel hydraulic device that does not require high fluid pressure in conjunction with a high flow rate. The separation of these two critical hydraulic problem areas should result in a highly efficient hydraulic drive that can meet the high performance expectations of this topic. An efficient hydraulic powered wheel and active suspension combination can reduce cost and design restrictions associated with mechanical drive concepts. The modular unit of this proposal can be used to add power assistance to under-powered or disabled vehicles using quick attachment features.